4th September 2018, 08:55

Netherlands retain Griffin Cup

Two late tries, from teenage debutant Arie-Tjerk Schultz and Amsterdam Cobras winger David Bos, ensured that the Netherlands retained the Griffin Cup, with a 38-22 win over Germany at the Sparta Stadium in Rotterdam. They won the Cup for the first time in five attempts last season and head coach Kane Krlic was delighted that his side kept the trophy on home soil.

"It was a great win, I am incredibly proud of all the boys,” he said. “Germany should take great pride in their performance also, they had a few early injuries so they were doing it tough but they never gave in and kept posing us challenges.”

Krlic added: “We have such a young team, all our backs were under 20 years old. It was really pleasing to see how the players grew into the game and started to show patience to build pressure. In the second half we only had three incomplete sets, and two of those sets were in the last five minutes.”

Germany took an early lead with a try by Mazlum Akbayrak goaled by Vivi Seelweger, Netherlands responding with touchdowns from Joran Schoenmaker and Daniel de Ruiter, Lucas Gout with a goal. Maurice Verstraten and Westfalen full back Raphael Tokona, and two Seelweger goals, edged the visitors 18-10 ahead, Schoenmaker’s second try and a Gout conversion cutting the lead to two points at the break.

Two tries in five minutes from Robbin van Wijk and Coventry prop James Geurtjens, together with a Gout conversion and penalty, seemed to have put the hosts in control, centre Seelweger pegging them back just after the hour before their late victory charge.

Krlic noted: “I believe it is an exciting time for both the Netherlands and German Rugby League, both governing bodies are working together to support each other’s growth, have a similar philosophy and are keen to support each other. We play Sweden in three weeks’ time and I will challenge this group of players to push themselves further and continue their development.”

Germany co-head coach Simon Cooper commented: “With 11 new players in the team from last week’s World Cup qualifying match - two of them teenagers and six new caps - and being ahead at half-time, I couldn’t really ask for much more. Unfortunately, we lost two players to injury within the first 20 minutes and that resulted in us running out of steam in the last quarter.”